I didn’t show my skin at all if I could help it.
Quickly, I grabbed my moisturizing cream and slathered it on my arms, massaging the fragile skin. One perk of winter was that no one questioned me covering my arms and legs. It also made it easy to apply cream when all I had to do was slip off my cardigan and pull up my long skirt.
In the warmer months, I usually wore athletic shirts or pants to try to keep cool, but they were often tight and I’d have to take off all my clothes multiple times a day to moisturize my skin.
When I was done with the cream, I slipped my sweater back on and distracted myself by setting up my laptop on the bed-and-breakfast’s Wi-Fi. There was a little informational card on the dresser with the password.
I checked my email before doing a little more research on the Shadow Stalker. My information on the serial killer was limited, but now that I’d be spending time in the Ramsey home, I was interested.
What I discovered only made my stomach hurt.
The Shadow Stalker was a vicious killer. He stalked and murdered mostly college-aged women in Ember Hollow and the surrounding area in southern Ohio. He’d leave their bodies after holding them captive for days, tied up and sexually assaulted. Eventually he would stab them, and carve a crude butterfly into their bodies to mark them as his.
And that was only the basic information on him. I didn’t even have time to dive into his connection to the Ramseys when I heard car doors slamming outside and Hailey’s muffled giggles.
I closed my laptop and hurried out of my room.
I was descending the front staircase when the front door banged shut hard enough to rattle the stained-glass panel beside it.
Hailey’s laughter burst through the foyer, ringing in my ears as I made my way to the bottom of the stairs.
Roman came into my line of sight first—shoulders broad beneath his winter coat, cheeks windburned and red, snow clinging to the dark fabric like glitter. Hailey skidded in behind him, bundled so tightly she was like a little marshmallow in a puffy jacket and snow pants, her curls escaping her hat in frizzy tendrils.
Her face was chapped from the cold, and when she caught sight of me, standing on the last step, she whirled around. She gave me a smile so big it made something in my chest ache.
“Palmer!” she squealed, stomping her boots on the entry rug like the snow had personally offended her. “You wouldn’tbelievehow fast I went. I was basically flying!”
Roman’s mouth tightened like he was trying not to smile. He glanced up—his eyes a dark slate-blue, like the evening winter sky.
I was so distracted that I didn’t notice Hailey had barreled toward me until her arms were wrapped around my waist. Shewas all soft and squishy in her snow gear, and I laughed a little and hugged her back.
“Sounds like you had a great time,” I said.
Haily grinned up at me, snowflakes melting into tiny droplets on her lashes.
“It wasamazing. Daddy took me to the big hill by the park—well, we couldn’t go all the way to the park because the roads are likereallysnowy. So we parked a little far and had to walk, but when we got there, it was perfect.” She tightened her hold around my waist, like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go. “Daddy went down with me, too.”
Roman’s voice cut in, deep and gruff. “Hailey. Snow stuff. Now.”
Hailey’s nose wrinkled. “But I’m telling Palmer—”
“Snow stuff,” he repeated in that firm tone that said he meant it.
She huffed dramatically, which was honestly impressive in a child her age, and reluctantly let go of me. “He’s always like this,” she whispered loudly, rolling her eyes. “Grumpy.”
Roman made a sound that might’ve been a sigh or a growl.
Hailey trudged back toward him, starting to peel off her gloves with the exaggerated suffering of someone who had endured a great injustice. I tried not to smile as I stepped deeper into the foyer.
Roman unzipped her jacket with practiced efficiency before slipping it off her shoulders. He tugged her hat off next, and a wave of dark curls sprang free, immediately frizzing in every direction.
She looked back at me, unable to resist finishing her story. “And then Daddy almost fell because the sled went sideways and I thought he was gonna roll all the way down the hill but he didn’t because he’s, like, really strong.”
Roman’s brows lifted like he wasn’t sure whether he was being complimented or criticized.
He took her coat and his own, hanging them up on the hooks by the door. Then he grabbed her snow pants, too, because she’d apparently decided she was done removing them herself halfway through.
“Go wash your hands,” he instructed, grabbing her boots as she tore them off. “And then go change out of your wet clothes.”
